Blackstone buys 2 IDFC Alternatives office parks for Rs 900 cr

US-based private equity giant Blackstone has bought two office parks — the 1.3-million sq ft Galaxy IT Park in Noida and the 1.5-million sq ft BlueRidge SEZ in Pune — from fund manager IDFC Alternatives for Rs 900 crore.

IDFC Alternatives said it had made returns of 22 per cent through the deal. Through the past couple of years, Blackstone has invested about $1 billion (Rs 6,000 crore) in acquiring office projects.

Along with DLF, it is one of the largest office asset owners in India. It is believed the company is doing the groundwork to list its office assets as a real estate investment trust in the country. Recently, Blackstone, along with Pune-based Panchsheel Realty, had acquired Express Towers here for about Rs 900 crore. The company has bought DLF’s Akruti IT Park in Pune and the Asia property portfolio of Merrill Lynch, among other assets.

Earlier this year, IDFC Alternatives raised Rs. 750 crore (US$ 125 million) from domestic investors for a real-estate high yield debt fund, IDFC Real Estate Yield Fund. The fund targets under-construction residential projects in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune and has currently has made four investments.